Must endeavour to persevere and remember to write about stuff!
U2 was as expected, a total contrast to the Pearl Jam gig earlier in the week, and rightly so - I wouldn't have it any other way. Don Valley Stadium is weird at the best of times (Rugby League games for us usually), but when you walk down the path from the Supertram and see a huge spider sitting in the middle it doesn't get much weirder! The Hours kicked off sometime after 6pm, with a nice little set that suited the sunny weather (thankfully - it had been tipping it down 30mins earlier), I liked the use of a 'real' piano, but they had difficulties in the wet weather. Elbow followed with the sun setting behind the stage, quite fitting and generally enjoyable. I used to adore this band, and I still think that their music is brilliantly written and atmospheric, but I do miss the anger and punch of the earlier work like 'Bitten by the Tailfly' and 'Don't Mix Your Drinks', and I'm not sure they'll ever better the lyrics in 'Scattered Black and Whites'. To be honest I was more interested in the stage than the support bands, the structure was fascinating, not to mention the men sitting in various nooks and crannies in the rigging.
U2 came on to 'Space Oddity', and with the pink sky behind that spaceship stage I could have happily listened to that in full, but they cut it quite abruptly. According to a helpful little website, this was the set list, with my two penneth:
Breathe - black and white visuals of the band,
No Line On The Horizon - the screen looked brill, with visuals of horizons (of course),
Get On Your Boots - still on the black + white,
Magnificent - screen started coming to life,
Beautiful Day / Blackbird (snippet),
Elevation - lots of spinny stuff with the screen,
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For / Movin' On Up (snippet) - not usually one I would go nuts for but I loved this,
Happy Birthday - for Willie Williams the set designer,
Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of,
Unknown Caller,
The Unforgettable Fire - love this and I'm SO glad I got to see them do it,
City Of Blinding Lights,
Vertigo,
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight / Reverend Black Grape (snippet) / Two Tribes (snippet),
Sunday Bloody Sunday / Oliver's Army (snippet) - ACE,
Pride (In The Name Of Love) - not so fussed about seeing this to be honest (yawn),
MLK - beautiful, I'm so glad they did this, it was sung for Aung San Suu Kyi.
Walk On / You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet) - makes me sing very loudly, unsettling all around me,
Where The Streets Have No Name / Gloria (snippet) - wasn't the best build up I've seen to this one,
One - intro by Desmond Tutu,
Mysterious Ways,
encores: Ultra Violet (Light My Way) - OooOO loved this,
With Or Without You,
Moment of Surrender
The strange thing about this gig was that despite the fact that the stage was immense, the gig seemed very intimate and uncluttered, credit to Willie Williams! The screen structure was fascinating and I would like to see how on earth it was designed and constructed. The crowd was lovely singing along to everything, and it felt a lot less booze ridden than usual, maybe because there was staff walking around selling pop rather than pints.
I could watch Bono all day, he is totally hypnotic, and during the encore when the Mic dropped down from the top of the stage and he came on in his laser suit to do Ultra Violet (Light My Way) I felt like I was watching Zooropa, he really knows how to create a visual spectacle with every little move he makes.
The only downer on the night was that the parking was terrible around the arena, we were stuck in traffic for two hours after the gig - something they need to sort out methinks.
